ADDITIONAL NOTES:renewed through the 2017-18 season (the show's fifth) on 5/10/17; confirmed as final season on 7/20/17

DESCRIPTION:(from The CW's press release, May 2017) Season four of THE ORIGINALS begins on the fifth anniversary of the Mikaelson family's greatest defeat. In the years since, the Original hybrid Klaus (Joseph Morgan) has been held prisoner by Marcel Gerard (Charles Michael Davis), while his siblings lie trapped in an enchanted sleep. When Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin) finally succeeds in reviving them, the newly-awakened Mikaelsons execute a daring rescue of the captive Klaus. Once reunited, the family finds themselves faced with an even bigger threat: the revival of an ancient evil that has strong ties to their most vulnerable family member, Hope (Summer Fontana). After a devastating attack by this nightmarish entity, the Mikaelsons discover there is only one way to save themselves -- they must stand their ground in New Orleans and forge an alliance with the very enemies who hate them most, both Marcel and the leader of the New Orleans witches, Vincent Griffith (Yusuf Gatewood). But as their horrifying adversary closes in, the Mikaelsons find that they are facing an evil even more powerful than themselves, one with intimate knowledge of their family's greatest weakness. With everything at stake -- their city, their family, and their very immortality -- the Mikaelsons must find a way to stand together, even as their secrets threaten to tear them apart. THE ORIGINALS is from Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with My So-Called Company, Alloy Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television and CBS Television Studios. Julie Plec ("The Vampire Diaries," "Kyle XY," "Wasteland") and Leslie Morgenstein ("The Vampire Diaries," "Gossip Girl") are executive producers.